Godsend

Posted by Greg

November 11, 2007

Return to Sender

**1/2 out of *****

Movies can usually be categorized into one of several columns, from soul-shattering perfection down to absolute, brain-numbing crap. There is lots of variety in between these two extremes, but my favorite has always been the underdog movie - a film that has a modest budget, B-list stars and minimal advertising, yet manages to come from behind to surprise and impress, my two favorite examples being Tremors and Pitch Black (and who can forget Office Space?) But movies like Godsend make me a bit upset - they nearly cross the line into underdog territory, but fall short by just a little bit. As the saying goes - close, but no cigar.

In this topical mystery/suspense/horror movie, Paul and Jessie Duncan (Greg Kinnear and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) play doting parents to 8-year old Adam (Cameron Bright). While shopping in the city one day, Adam is killed in a freak car accident, leaving his parents traumatized. Soon after, they’re approached by Dr. Richard Wells (Robert De Niro), who promises that he can help them in a way that they never thought possible. They agree to hear what he has to say, but are shocked when he explains what he has to offer: cloning Adam. Angrily dismissive at first, they soon come to realize that their loss is just too great to pass up a revolutionary - if highly illegal - opportunity like this, and agree to the procedure.

After their child is born, Paul and Jessie’s life seems perfect, due entirely to Dr. Wells, who has given them their family back and even set them up with jobs and a huge house surrounded by creepy woods. But when Adam reaches the age of 8, things start to change. He has terrible nightmares, and sees phantoms lurking in every corner. One minute he’s a normal little boy, the next he’s dreaming of killing his parents with an axe - talk about yin and yang. The film moves along, with little Adam’s flashbacks turning into full-fledged episodes of hypnotic speech and ghostly visions; naturally, his parents start growing more worried.

When Paul starts following clues that relate to things that Adam has shouted while in hypnotic trances, he begins to realize that Dr. Wells isn’t all that he appears and might not have told them all there is to know about the cloning procedure.

It’s maybe a bit unfair to say that director Nick Hamm has clearly seen The Sixth Sense many times; after all, if Tarantino can pay homage to his favorite movies in Kill Bill, why can’t Hamm? The same moody, pulsing music is there, as are several shots that have been copied to death. Hamm fills the frame with plenty of late-fall fog and lights all of his actors with what seems to be bottled moonlight, but the moody atmosphere can’t overcome the clichéd script; the fact that the chills come as a result of cloning is just a contemporary plot device, a fill-in-the-blank motivation that causes the antagonist to go crazy. Take this scenario away and you’re left with a very average script.

To be fair, the film does have some tense moments - most notably a nicely done scene involving a shower curtain - and audience gasps were heard several times throughout, but most of the shocks rely on ‘jump scares,’ with something leaping into view from out of frame accompanied by a sharp burst of music. That always seemed like a bit of a cop-out to me; you’d get the same reaction if you threw a Hello Kitty toy at someone if they had just opened their eyes.

Kinnear and Romijn-Stamos’ roles require a fairly predictable range of emotions and both actors do what they can to bring the dual intensities of love and anguish to the screen. Oscar winner Kinnear remains a vastly unappreciated talent; his hound-dog eyes and expressive mouth bring a very solid believability to any role he tackles, be it comedy or drama, and Romjin-Stamos acts her heart out to portray a mother who desperately wants to believe that nothing is wrong. De Niro, however, is the anchor that the movie is tied to; by this point in his career, his mere presence is enough to get an extra $10 mil from the studios, and he does a nice job as the omnipotent doctor who may or may not be a bad guy, depending on which particular moral stance you take.

When the ‘twist’ ending is revealed, it’s not nearly as shocking as it would like to believe, and doesn’t lead to any vital climax. Indeed, the movie doesn’t really have an ending at all, but rather just resolves a moderately difficult issue and moves on, with each character essentially in the same position they were in at the midpoint. Much like the sticking point that angered many in A Beautiful Mind (love cures everything), Godsend seems to think that having the characters move to a new house without any creepy woods will solve all the problems. Maybe they should have taken on a roommate who could have punched up the script a bit. A good try with a capable cast, but regrettably, Godsend is just an average B thriller using a current and controversial issue to provoke the man vs. man showdown that’s been done so many times before.

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